Means for short-circuiting block-signaling systems



S. B. RICE.

MEANS FOR SHORT cmcunmg BLOCK SIGNALING SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-11,1921.

Ptented May 10,1921.

' ATTORNEY PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES.

SAMUEL 3. RICE, OI RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

MEANS FOR SEORT-CIBCUITING BLOCK-SIGNALING SYSTEMS.

To all whom it my cmwem: 7

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. EIE, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at Richmond, in the State of Virginia, ave invented certain newand useful Improvements in Means for Short-Circuiting Bloch- SignalingSystems, of which the following 1s a specification.

track.

, The present invention resides in an appliance which can be secured tothe rails of a track other than the track on which the fouling has takenplace. To this end, one of the objects of the present invention 1s toprovide an appliance which can be readily attached to, and detachedfrom, the adjoin-- of a track, as by a flagman, said appliance beingprovided with means for ripping and forming an electrlcal contact withthe rails and the electric conductor connecting such gripping andcontact means.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance of thisnature which can be placed in position in a comparatively few seconds,which is inexpensive, and WlllCl'l can be conveniently handled.

These being among the objects of the present invention, the sameconsists of certain features of construction and combinations of partsto be hereinafter described and then claimed with reference to theaccompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention, inwhich ing rails Figure 1 is a perspective view of the appliance; a

Fig. 2 is a'transverse section taken through two adjoining parallelrails of a ra1lway track, showing the approved appl ance secured to saidrails in operative position;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a block signaling systemshowingthe utility of the improved appliance, the same being applied toone of the tracks; and

Fig. 4 is a detail section of one of the setscrews.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, tlie improved appliance preferably comprisesa pair of Specification of Letters Patent.

as, for instance, where a train Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed February 11, 1921. Serial No. 444,067.

similar jaws 10, 11, preferably composed of a simple bar of iron orother conducting material, each of said jaws being substantiallyV-shaped. Each jaw is provided with an arm 12, and with a second arm 13,so as to form aV-shaped recess, the arm 12 being adapted to have abearing againstthe under side of the base-flange of a rail, while theother arm 13 is arranged atan acute angle to the arm 12, and is adaptedto be placed over the upper surface of said base-flange. so that therewill be somewhat of a space between the arm 13 and thebase-flange. Eacharm 13 is provided with a screwthreaded holel4, which receives aset-screw or screw-threaded stud 15 which is provided with a handle 16for turning'it.

Electrically connected with the two jaws 10, 11, so that their V-shapedrecesses flare away therefrom, is a conductor 17 which may be in theform of 'acable, comprising a number of conductors properly insulated.The electrical conductor 17 is of such length that when the two jaws 10,11 are applied to opposite parallel rails of a track,-that is, to thebase flanges thereof, so as to receive said flanges in their V-shapedrecesses -as shown in Fig. 2, it will span the distance from rail torail.

Preferably, the inner ends of the set-screws which comprise the grippingor clamping means for the jaws are formed as at 15 so as to cut theirway through in sand or cinder on the rails, and to embed themselves inthe bases of the rails, thereby making a positive electrical contact.

The manner of using this simple shortcircuiting appliance will beobvious from the diagram, Fig. 3. In this figure a railway linecomprising two tracks 18, 19, is illustrated, said tracks being fortraflic in opposite directions. The arrows indicate the directions .inwhich the trains move. phore signals 20, 21, 22 and 23 are indicated,and it will be seen that the semaphore 22 has been set to danger by atrain on the track 18 to which something has happened, as a broken axle,causing said train to foul the track 19. The Ha an of the train onSematrack 18 should immediately take one of the short-circuitingappliances such as described, and screw it to the rails of the ad Whenthe obstruction has been removed the appliance can be removed from track19. Short-circuiting appliances such as described may be used to equipall engines and flagmen. They can be attached to the fla mans equipmentand be at hand and rea y for service at all times. The device should becarried by both freight and passenger electrical contact with the inwardbase flanges of two opposite rails of a track in any block, the saidrecesses of the devices being somewhat higher than the thickness of saidflanges to allow a slight space for the movement of said. gripping meansto bear upon the upper surfaces of said flanges, and an electricalconductor connecting said devices, said devices having their V-shapedrecesses flared away from the ends of the conductor, and being adaptedto be instantl engaged with, or disengaged from, sai flanges. a

2. Ina device of the class described, two V-shaped jaws of conductingmaterial, one arm of each of which is provided with a set- L screw, theinner end of which is formed with a cutting edge to make a goodelectrical contact, said screws constituting gripping means, and anelectric conductor connecting said jaws.

I 3. In a device of the class described, two V-shaped jaws composed of asimple bar of metal, one arm of each of which is provided with aset-screw, the inner end of which is formed to make a good electricalcontact, said screws constituting gripping means, and each jaw and itsgripping means being similar tothe others, and an electric conductorconnecting said jaws.

4. In combination with a block-signaling system for railways, similardevices for removably gripping and forming electrical contact with theinward base flanges of two opposite rails of an installed track in anyblock, and an electrical conductor connect-- 'ing said devices, each ofsaiddevices comprising a jaw to engage over the base flange of arail,and a set-screw for engaging said flange, and the lower arm of each jawconstituting a substantially straight lower terminal which is free frominterference by the roadbed during the installation of theelectrically-connected devices, whereby each jaw may be directly engagedwith the inward base flange by a mere outward movement of the jaw on toit. v

SAMUEL B. RICE.

